THE NEW ASSIGNMENT

7 May 2011

Hello Everyone.

So I have not emailed in a while so this email will cover the last two weeks or so. I will try and remember all the things that have gone on. I will just start of by saying that this has probably been one of the most stressful and one of the hardest weeks of my mission; at the same time it has been full of new adventures and a lot of the best times of my mission. I will start off with the stressful stuff and end with the good stuff.

So this week I accepted a new assignment in the mission field. Last Friday we had Zone Leader council, which is the best meeting of the mission and while we were eating our lunch at the mission home and President took me into his office to visit. We talked about when my release date would be and then asked me a question that I totally did not expect. He asked me if I would be willing to accept an assignment to be one of his assistants. I was not expecting that at all and it took me by surprise. I willing accepted, but I had no idea what exactly it would entail. Then we went back to ZLC and he announced it to the rest of the Zone Leaders. I asked my new companion how I looked and he said that I looked like I was going to be sick. There was so much running through my head that day. I expected to just come up to the mission office on Wednesday when transfers were happening. I thought I would get a chance to say bye to all those people I met in Pendleton. But on Saturday I got a call from the Assistants telling me that President would be in Pendleton tomorrow after church to pick me up so I needed to be ready to go.

The first day I got here they put me to work. I helped with transfers and got that all going. That is what we have mainly been doing this last week is making sure everyone gets settled into their new areas okay. We took all the departing missionaries to the airport (it was a weird feeling to be in the airport), then getting all the new missionaries in and figuring out who their trainers would be. I can say though that I know the transfer process is done by inspiration. This whole work is done by inspiration. My new companion is Elder Garrick. He is from Murray, Utah and has been an Assistant for six weeks so we are both really new at this. We have been relying on the Lord a lot. We have been running around so much that I haven't had a chance to even unpack my suit cases. We have already done two trainings, driven to the west side of the mission (about a four hour drive) and have only had 1one full night of sleep this last week. You would think I would be grumpy or complaining, but I wouldn't trade any of those things for the world.

I have grown so much in just a week. I realize that there is more to a mission than just finding, teaching and baptizing. I will get to know all the missionaries in our mission and have a chance to help them. When we were at the airport picking up the new missionaries, I was so excited to see those eight servants of the Lord come off the plane and start the same journey that has changed my life. To look back on my 19 months and see how much growth is possible if we will consecrate our efforts to the Lord and do our best to serve Him with all our heart, might, mind and strength.

This new assignment has been one of the most humbling experiences of my life. I am not sure exactly what I am doing or how I am going to accomplish all the things that will be required but I know that with the Lord’s help anything is possible. Sometimes the Lord takes you low, so that He can lift you higher.

In these past two weeks I have also been blessed to be a part of the missionary effort. I am usually in the mission office from about ten to five each day but after that we get to go out and do some missionary work. I can tell you that I have never wanted to tract more in my life than I do right now. Being able to get out and just pound the pavement, raising up the good news of the Gospel is one of the most amazing things in life. I have come to realize though that I just have a few other responsibilities. In my last week in Pendleton we were able to find four new investigators. One of them has a friend who is a member and gave her some stuff. Her name is Gayle and she has already read the Gospel Principles manual, The Restoration and Plan of Salvation pamphlet and has started to read the Book of Mormon. I would be very surprised if she didn't get baptized. Plus we were able to teach most of our investigators and some of them came to church. It was good to be able to stand up in fast and testimony meeting and tell all of them that I know that the Gospel is true and that It can bring the greatest blessing into their lives. So I was able to leave Pendleton on a high note. Elder Liu and I worked our tails off and we saw the fruits of our labors.

The first night I got to the Tri-cities Elder Garrick, Elder Sanders and I put two people on baptismal date, then the next night we put three more on date. The dates are all for May. I am so excited. The ward that we serve in is the Pasco 9th and Columbia Basin wards. They are both so amazing.

Well I hope you all have a wonderful week; I know I will. Our Heavenly Father loves us and there is nothing that we face that He cannot help us with. Trust in Him and replace fear with faith and He will be there to lift you up. I am grateful for my mission and the blessings that come from serving. Even though sometimes it can be hard and I may feel I like I have no clue what is going on, I accepted this call and I am going to do the best I can to fulfill and magnify it. It is like our everyday life. We accepted this life before we came down to earth. We accepted the trials, hardships and all the other difficulties when we made the choice to follow our Heavenly Fathers plan. Now it is just our job to do our best to follow the plan and endure through those trials that come our way. We must endure, we must keep going; the blessing that come at the end are too great to give up.

I pray that we all, as sons and daughters of God are able to stand in that last day and know that we did our very best to do what is right. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and that He knows what we are going through. I know that He cares for each one of us and that it is only through Him that we can return to live with our Heavenly Father and with our families forever. I love this gospel and I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lords kingdom once again established on the earth.

I love you and hope you have a wonderful and safe week.

Elder M Scottie Draper